Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is a Virtual Assistant?
A Virtual Assistant is a highly skilled professional who provides business services online from a remote location.

Businesses outsource work to virtual assistants in order to streamline costs, enhance productivity and improve quality of work. By delegating administrative and highly specialized tasks to a Virtual Assistant you will be able to allocate more time and resources to your main business activities.

Virtual assistants are generally independent contractors which mean the client is not responsible for any employer-related taxes, insurance or benefits. Virtual assistants are responsible for their own costs of business except for indirect expenses that are indicated in their fees.

Thus, you do not incur additional expenses for rent, power and Internet service when you contract a Virtual Assistant.

2. Why use someone from the Philippines and not someone locally?
There is a reason why the Philippines is the number 1 destination in the world for outsourcing: their people consistently provide world class services.

At 98%, the Philippines has one of the highest literacy rates in the world.

In 2012, GlobalEnglish cited the Philippines as #1 in Business English.

English is the second language but is the primary medium of instruction at work and in schools.

The Philippines is a cultural melting pot; its traditions and practices have been influenced by the Danish, Chinese, Spanish, Japanese and the United States. Filipinos can adapt to any foreign culture.

We can provide you the best Filipino virtual assistants for only $7 per hour including GST. We issue invoices on a monthly basis.
Filipino virtual assistants are extremely hard-working with exceptional time management skills.

3. Do I need to have someone work full-time? Or do I have the option for a part-time VA?
Yes, you have the option for a part-time Virtual Assistant. However, from our experience it will only be a matter of time before you realize the true power and potential of having a full-time VA onboard your business.

A Virtual Assistant is no longer just a secretary or personal assistant. A VA can perform a multitude of tasks that range from administrative to more technical and specialized disciplines.

You may eventually find your entire business managed by a team of virtual assistants!

4. How quickly can I get my new Virtual Assistant?
Once you have completed all the required paperwork, we should have your Virtual Assistant fully trained and oriented within 1 to 2 weeks.

5. How do I communicate with my Virtual Assistant?
You will be able to communicate with your VA via e-mail and Skype. You may be pleasantly surprised how similar working with a VA is to a regular office assistant.

So when you hear or see a “Good Morning” on your PC, that’s just your VA greeting you with your morning coffee!

6. How do I keep track of hours worked?
Your Virtual Assistant will be monitored daily by our management team which uses the latest technology to track the tasks being worked on. You shall be provided a daily report which details the following:

Time and task tracking

Webpage monitoring

Screenshot recordings every 3 minutes

Start and finish time

Total time of breaks taken

7. How much do you charge and how do I pay?
We will charge you $7 per hour including GST. On a 20 hour work week, this works out to $140 per week. We will issue you an Australian invoice to be paid monthly in advance.

8. Who will be my main point of contact?
A Manager will be designated to oversee the handling of your account. The Manager will likewise be trained and oriented on the specifics of your business.
Our managers have 3 important tasks to carry out for our clients:

Ensure quality of work

Ensure timely delivery

Ensure all standards and guidelines were met

The Manager shall inform you if your VA cannot make it to work due to illness. We shall also provide you with a second Manager should you have difficulty contacting your designated Manager.

9. Will my Virtual Assistant be able to work unsupervised?
Yes most definitely! You will be pleased to know that the productivity of our virtual assistants is significantly higher than the average Australian worker.

This corresponds with a study made by Stanford University which showed that the productivity of virtual assistants is 13% higher than a regular office worker. Virtual assistants work in highly productive environments; free of distractions and inconveniences.

Of course, there is a learning curve to consider. But after a few days and once the VA has become more familiar with the systems that are in place, no question that the VA can work unsupervised.

As mentioned, you will be provided a daily report as well as weekly spreadsheets that summarize the work that has been done.

10. Can we put our Virtual Assistant’s details in our website?
Yes you can and we highly encourage you to do so. It would be beneficial to make your Virtual Assistant feel part of the team.

11. Can we issue our Virtual Assistant an e-mail address?
Yes you can. You may also want to consider setting up an e-mail header with your office details and a photo.

12. What happens if the Internet gets disconnected?
If the Internet gets disconnected or in the event of power failure, our Manager will get in touch with you via e-mail, phone or text message.

We would like to assure you we are resourceful and have contingencies in place should work disruptions occur.

13. Are there special types of computer systems required?
We try to keep everything basic, simple and user friendly for the client as possible. Programs such as Skype can be downloaded from your end. The high-tech tracking software is downloaded from our side.

If needed, we can assist you in downloading and running certain software so you can personally oversee some of the tasks of your VA.

14. Can we reward our virtual assistants for their efforts?
By all means please do! What we suggest is to advise us how much you want to reward your VA and we shall simply include the amount in your next monthly invoice.

We do not recommend using the postal service because theirs is not as reliable as ours in Australia!

Bonuses are not expected but highly appreciated. For your information, we have our own in-house bonus system that rewards our virtual assistants.